I have told the beginning part of this story multiple times over the years. All my athletes will remember it cropping up from time to time before graduation day. But now that my sports world and wedding world have overlapped, I suppose it would make sense to explain it here.

This will explain why I had to excuse myself from the room under the pretense of taking photos of the grooms suit momentarily after reading the thank you note from Alex and Anica on the morning of their wedding.

The world of a sports photographer is very different from that of a wedding photographer. And for many years before I spent my summer weekends and weekdays wearing a suit and taking photos of peoples “I Do’s” I was curled up on the side of a court / pitch / field with a monopod and a large telephoto lens, waiting for moments that flashed by at 1/2500th of a second.

As a sports photographer your interaction with your subject is limited to expression and the moments that appear between moments, if that is explainable. You don’t direct your subject, but catch the fractions of a second in which they triumph, or come up short. You see the frustration, the elation, the joy and the heart break that accompanies athletic endeavors. You see the flashes of expression that no one else does, and through that, you come to care about them.

And if you take photos of that athlete for long enough, you find yourself potentially missing photos during a particularly important moment as your breath stops and you watch in anticipation, cheering for them silently. You’re watching a career flash by at 1/1000th of a second. It is an incredible privilege to be witness to these moments, and for many years of my athletic photography career, Anica and Alex were two of those athletes.

When I started work for the TRU Wolfpack in 2009, they were two of the first athletes I took photos of, along with Brad Pape their coach, with whom I share a love of cars, we developed a friendship over the years until 2010 and ’13 respectively when Alex and Anica graduated.

Even then, Anica asked if I could come and take some photos of her at her convocation, and when she stood up to walk across the stage I found myself clapping and cheering as loud as anyone.

These two had been a part of my life for a long time by that point. And it was with a laugh and exchanged hugs over a coffee that I was asked to take pictures at their wedding. I was well over a hundred weddings in my ever changing photographic career, yet on the wedding morning, as I strapped on my camera equipment with a routine so engrained I performed the adjustments by auto pilot, I found myself thinking about all the years of tournaments and practices of taking photos of these two. Watching as they cheered for each other, supported each other, laughed at each other more often than not, and grew from almost rookies to graduates in front of my eyes.
As I often am on these mornings, I was humbled by the trust put in me and my assistants in creating the photos that would document one of the most important days of a couple’s life.

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So thank you, you two, for the trust, and for all the years of moments between moments. And I admit, as I watched you two walk back down the aisle towards me, my breath may have caught yet again, and silently, I cheered as much as I had so vocally at any of your tournaments.
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The first thing I remember was the sounds of the ocean. The sounds are different in the pre-dawn world of the Carribean than they are in the north. As opposed to deep silence they are incessant, but not in a negative way. The sounds of wave crashing against the shoreline mixing with the hiss of sand as it tumbled in the wake of the retreating foam. And the over-arching cries of coastal birds as they prepare for the day.

I woke up to these sounds on the third day of a week-long wedding shoot in the Dominican Republic in 2010. I am always more comfortable under stars than ceilings, so that night I decided to sleep by the shoreline.

I remember standing and brushing the sand from my shirt, stretching as I watched the resort come alive to the west of me. I smiled and made my way to breakfast, where I was joined by Graeme and Angela, two of the wedding guests that I had met on the trip. We exchanged pleasantries and sat together. They asked me if at some point during the trip I would be able to take some photos of them together, as they didn’t have many at the time. I happily agreed and later that week we met up one evening and took some couples portraits against the backdrop of the setting sun.

After showing them some images on the back of the camera Angela laughed and said casually “You know, if we ever get married, you’re going to do the photos” I looked up thoughtfully “Really?” She nodded, and Graeme added his assent. And as we got off the plane in Vancouver later that week it was with a smile and a wave that we parted ways.

This began a six-year friendship.

Since then I have shot well over a hundred weddings, traveled to dozens more countries for work and pleasure. And I will always have that memory of waking up next to the ocean in the Dominican. The smells and sounds will never leave me; neither did the joking promise made between friends.

But years pass, as these things do, and it was with a bit of bemusement I received a phonecall from Angela saying “So, what are you doing August 2nd, 2016?” well, more accurately she gave me a list of dates, but the answer was “I suppose I am spending some time with you and Graeme”

And that morning as I checked my cameras and my memory cards, my shoulder straps and lenses, I was thrown back six years and a lifetime of experiences ago to waking up under a pale sunrise in the Dominican, to the sounds of laughter mixing with the rush of waves that was the beginning of an incredible friendship. As I opened the door to see Angela standing there in her wedding dress, my breath caught in my throat and I just nodded, humbled beyond words at the culmination of a promise made six years ago a world away.

Congratulations you two. It was an honor and an incredible privilege to be a part of your big day.

Elsie Cheung-Andrew,
So beautifully done.
Amazing,a promise of 6 years ago.
Angela is like a daughter to me,I was at her birth(,I am a midwife, & a family friend of her parents)
I went to Victoria for their reception ceremony .
Thank you so much for giving her such beautiful memorable pictures.
Elsie

Michael and Amanda had possibly the most interesting combination of weather on their wedding day I think I have ever seen. We started out with a sunrise straight out of a textbook wedding morning, gentle winds and golden light for some early morning golf. The ladies enjoyed some dramatic clouds dancing across the hilltops above the sunburst chair as they prepared for the day. This was followed by a beautiful ceremony filled with laughter, cheers, and just maybe, a few tears.

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Afterwards as we walked towards the chair lift to head to the top of the hill for photos a rainstorm hit, and followed us up to the top where we were told the chair lift was being shut down due to lightning strikes, and we had to run inside the hut for shelter. But realizing we would not get any photos if we didn’t brave the weather Amanda and Michael led the charge outside to stand in front of a sky that had opened up in celebration of their day. With laughter echoing from the peaks we danced in the rain, and after making our way back down to the reception hall we were greeted by one of the most boisterous and fun filled wedding venues we have ever been to. This group of people took the weather as a sign to dance the night away in slightly wet shoes, and they did it in style.
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Thank you Michael and Amanda for letting us be a part of your big day, congratulations you two!!

This is a hard one to write. I knew Casey in his rookie year playing for the TRU Wolfpack Volleyball team. I watched him grow through his university and athletic career through the lens for five years. So when he approached me to shoot his wedding I was obviously humbled and honoured, and on the morning of the wedding, as I put my telephoto lenses down in lieu of the wedding equipment I had to chuckle, after all the thousands of moments I had taken photos of Casey, this was the first time I was the nervous one.
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Hillary and Casey are a fairytale couple, their wedding day not necessarily a special one I would think, In a relationship where every day is pure magic. So to Hillary and Casey, thank you for letting us be a part of your wedding, it was memorable from the very beginning to the end. And admittedly, the first wedding I have put my camera down and just danced with everyone at the end of the night.
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It is fairly uncommon that we do not have the opportunity to meet our brides and grooms before the wedding. You have phone conversations for over a year regarding the days leading up the wedding, the order of events on the day in regards to facilitating time for photography. Then when it comes time to meet. You wonder what the couple is truly going to be like. Well as we walked up to the Blaylock Mansion in Nelson, BC, surrounded by the sights and smells of the gardens, Ben and I were greeted by a welcome as warm and comfortable as the home itself. Kiyuri and Nick are two of the types of people you can instantly feel comfortable around. With Kiyuris infectious laughter and Nicks solid smile these two made us feel like part of the family from the moment we walked in the door. Their families and guests were no different, and at the pre wedding BBQ on Friday evening we spent far more time talking to all the guests and family that had traveled from all over the world to attend the wedding than we did shooting. That was the power of the types of people Kiyuri and Nick surrounded themselves with. Two families coming together, many members meeting for the first time, and blending so seamlessly that to the two of us, we naturally assumed they had all known each other for years.
It is with great pleasure that I have the opportunity to present a small sneak peak of their wedding photos from an amazing day in Nelson. Kiyuri and Nick, how incredibly humbling it was to have been trusted with the job of photographer on your big day. And more so than merely meeting new clients, we have made new friends. Thank you. And may your travels continue to take you both to new horizons, chasing sunrises together.
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Photography: Andrew Snucins / Ben Verwey
Venue: Blaylock Mansion (http://www.blaylock.ca)
Hair: Enso Hair Design
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